IBSE Final

10 NaTIoNal SCIENCE TEaChERS aSSoCIaTIoN

Chapter 1 The Teaching of Science: Contemporary Challenges

underscore the complementary nature of these two ideas because many contem-

porary programs and assessments give much greater emphasis to facts without

attention to the underlying concepts. Do we emphasize “big ideas” or “many

facts”? The answer to this question is that we include both.

A science curriculum should be structured using a framework that includes

ideas central to disciplines, such as the structure and properties of matter,

biological evolution, and geochemical cycles for the physical, life, and Earth

sciences, respectively. In addition, students should learn about science; that is,

ideas fundamental to the process of science should be part of the curriculum.

The content of school science should include scientific inquiry and the nature

of science and fundamental ideas such as the empirical nature of science and

the role of evidence in scientific explanations. Finally, and very important, the

curriculums include opportunities for students to apply their understandings

to personal and social issues. Table 1.1 presents a contemporary example of a

framework for a high school science curriculum. The framework is from the

BSCS program BSCS Science: An Inquiry Approach (2005).

What Should Students Be Able to Do?

The reader likely has noted that this discussion only answers part of the ques-

tion “What should students know and be able to do?” Still to be addressed is

the issue of the abilities that should be developed in a school science curriculum

based on the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996). Here are my

nominations that address this issue:

• Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.

• Think critically and logically to make relationships between evidence and

explanations.

• Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and

evidence.

• Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.

• Communicate and defend a scientific argument.

Of course, these abilities will have to be developed in the context of investi-

gations, experiments, and personal and social situations.

By this point, it should be clear that designing science curriculum is a

complex process. This discussion only scratched the surface of the complex,

interrelated issues that must be addressed. A coherent and rigorous science

curriculum consists of a conceptual framework that includes major scientific

ideas that have been sequenced with a clear progression for the concepts, the

incorporation of scientific inquiry as content, and contexts such as personal and

social perspectives.